Gulf Oil Spill Grinds Local Seafood Business to a Halt (Video)

As the effort to cleanup the still-growing oil spill continues, many fishermen who can no longer fish are being employed in the short term by BP. For the time being, helping position oil-absorbent boom and skimming the waters, they have a means to put food on the table. But what about the business operators who buy the fish from those fishermen? With nothing to buy or sell, their businesses. I spoke to Kai, a local shrimp wholesaler and owner of a small fishing operation in Venice, Louisiana, about the impact the spill was having on his trade--and he told me his business has ground to a standstill. More video after the jump."There's no business," he says, "we don't know what the future holds for us." He's frustrated and anxious, and rightfully so. He has no idea when, how, and if BP will compensate him for his loss of livelihood. He was kind enough to do a quick video interview, where he discussed the plight he faces, the first installment of which is above.

When I asked him if he was angry at BP, however, he said that he wasn't:

And even though the fishermen can find some employment helping to clean the spill, there's still much that's unclear -- here, Kai helps touches on the challenges faced by the fishermen he works with:

And on the lingering question: what happens when the cleanup is done, and BP no longer needs their boats?

It's certainly a sad, difficult situation -- we can only wish Kai, his family, and his fishermen friends the best of luck.